For example, let's say that I went to sleep one night at 5:00 am. Out of exhaustion, I would most likely sleep until the late afternoon. Since I woke up so late, I wouldn't be tired until very early in the morning, maybe 5:00 am again. This pattern would repeat over and be hard to break out of. My question is, what would we call this type of pattern? Another example would be smoking; you begin to smoke and it's very hard to stop. I'm not looking for "addiction", because that implies that I am physically and mentally dependent on the object.

@Robusto - I did, but what I'm describing isn't really a habit. What I'm describing involuntarily repeats, regardless of the wish of the person it affects, and it doesn't necessarily benefit said person. For example, in the above situation, I don't want to go to sleep really late, but I have to because I did it the previous night.
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pasawayaOct 7 '12 at 1:32